Friends , we are using the English words daily without trying to appreciate its full story ! So I present to you the first part of my researched work where I have used only fifty percent of my notes . This is a simplified version in verse for easy reading & understanding . After completing the entire composition, I hope to publish it next year & present my book to selected Colleges & Public Libraries here , -hoping to leave behind something useful for posterity. Foot Notes are important for proper appreciation ! Hope you will like this True Story and my submission . - Raj
STORY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN VERSE : PART ONE
STORY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE
AND LITERATURE IN VERSE
BY RAJ NANDY
**PART- I**
INTRODUCTION
Oliver Wendell Holmes had once reminded us ,
That the human soul is an omnibus, in which sits
the soul of our ancestors !
Therefore the Story of Language and Literature of
a Nation ,
Gets inextricably bound with the History of its people !
I have delved on these aspects before commencing
my Story ;
The various influences which shaped English Language
and its Literature , along with its recorded History !
In my narration I propose to highlight mainly the salient
features ,
With brevity in mind and the short attention span of
my readers !
Though brevity is said to be the soul of wit ,
Important facts and features cannot be concealed !
I have divided my narration into four broad parts ;
Commencing with the lesser known facts of Celtic
migration, their culture and art ,
And their initial influence on English Literature to
make a start ;
Followed by Old, Middle and Modern English Periods
of this Story ;
While I dovetailed this narration with some facts of
History ;
With the Anglo-Saxons, Danish and the Norman invasions;
Which impacted English language and literature while
forging the entire Nation !
TRACING THE ORIGINS
Tracing the origins of English Language and Literature is
no easy task ,
For it takes us back to the dim Pre-historic past !
When societies that gave birth to Proto-Indo-European
Language Groups lived around the Ural Mountain
regions ,
With the Celtic Group of Languages forming a part
of them ! @ ( Foot Notes)
The various Celtic tribes migrated in stages to the
British Isles,
Their Bards and their Druids maintaining orally the
cultural identity of each tribe !
The Bard was their singer, composer and music-
maker ,
And the Druid their religious head, medicine man,
and discipline keeper !
The Celtic Group of Languages include Irish, Welsh,
Cornish and Armoric ;
But initially the natives being all illiterate, nothing
got writ !
Later when the Christian missionaries introduced into
England the first Latin script ; $ (Foot Notes)
It was only then when the Celtic oral traditions,
Got embodied in the first literary Latin quotations
and translations !
The ‘Caedmon’s Hymn’ the earliest documented
English poem dating back to 658 AD ,
Survives in the Latin translation of Bede recorded
during early part of the 8th century !
However the greater population of Britain had
remained mostly illiterate ,
Till the arrival of William Caxton’s printing press !
Both English language and its literature forms a motley
garment of varying tints and racial shades ; -
With the prismatic fancy of the Celts, the somber passion
of the Teutonic race ;
Mixed with the golden gaiety of France, along with
Italian purples and Scandinavian grays!
Yet all these qualities form a harmonious blend,
Where the Anglo Saxon element mostly predominate!
In the ‘Foot Notes’ I have mentioned a few interesting
facts for your better appreciation,
Reading of which I leave it to your better discretion !
THE CELTIC MIGRATION :
“Long ago, beyond the misty space
Of twice a thousand years,
In Erin old there dwelt a mighty race
Taller than the Roman spears”!
-- ‘The Celts’ by Thomas D’Arcy Mc Gees
(Erin =romantic name for Ireland)
The Greeks called them ‘Keltoi’ (barbarians); -
Warlike tribes who came from Central European region ,
And challenged the might of the great Romans legions !
Historians say that the Celts migrated and entered Britain
in waves and in stages ,
And ushered in the Iron Age in Britain - replacing the
earlier Bronze Ages ! (Around 600BC or later)
The Hittites of Anatolia (Turkey) had invented and
monopolized this Iron smelting technology,
Keeping it as a close guarded secret for four centuries !
And after the fall of the Empire of the Hittites around
1100 BC,
The Celts picked it up from the West Asian region-
later in history !
Iron swords and iron ploughs created a revolutionary
change in warfare and agriculture ;
While the Celts gradually mingled with the native Britons,
without losing their independent culture !
These Celtic tribes with their Bards and Druids had
occupied greater part of England in the beginning ,
But never tried to forge themselves into a nation under
a single ruler or a king !
The Bards were the poets and composers who kept
alive, the traditions and culture of each Celtic tribe ;
Celts being illiterate, the songs were all memorized !
These valiant warriors with painted body and faces,
With flowing long hair like manes of wild horses ;
Created dread and terror in the hearts of their enemy
forces !
Julius Caesar who admired their skills in chariot warfare
had called them ‘Gauls’ ;
And Caesar’s GallicWars took seven long years to make
their defiant leader Vercingetorix at Alesia fall! (51BC)
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron
Age and the Roman Era , * (Foot Notes)
It included present day France and lands east of the
Rhine River area !
Many readers would recall the famous “Adventures of
Asterix ”,
Written by Rene Goscinny and drawn by Albert Uderzo
the famous French cartoonist !
That small Gaelic village which held out against the
might of Julius Caesar,
The ‘magic portion’ of the old Druid Getafix and the
strongman Obelix, - as thorns in the flesh of mighty
Caesar !
CELTIC LITERATURE, LANGUAGE
AND ART :
The English Language belongs to the Germanic branch
of Indo-European Family of Languages ,
With the Celtic Group forming a part and one of them !
When later the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes along with
other Teutonic tribes invaded Britain ,
Over a spread of almost 600 years commencing from
AD Four hundred and ten ;
Those Germanic groups terrorized the Celtic tribes ,
And gradually pushed them towards the outer fringes
of the British Isles ;
Towards the Scottish highlands, into Wales, Cornwall,
and Ireland , where the Celtic language survived !
Celtic bards sang of heroic deeds of war and adventure,
To the accompaniment of the harp during feasting and
festivities, as a regular feature .
Their religious head and medicine man were the Druids ,
Who handed down the ancient wisdom of past generations
verbally through recitations ;
As they uttered the sacred words with magical incantations!
The ancient Druids were the binding force for Celtic
culture and society ,
At a time when England, Scotland and Wales never existed
as separate geographical entities !
Only fragments of Celtic poems and prose have survived,
When the Latin monks recorded them after the Celts were
Christianized !
Though influenced by the classical Greek Art which
appeared more realistic,
Celtic carvings and art work were more ornamental,
imaginative, and artistic !
In English Literature while the Saxons brought their fiery
intensity, the Celts brought variety .
Both their prose and verse reflect Celts love of Nature
with its mystical interpretations ,
That differs widely from the half fearful and fatalistic
attitude of the later Anglo-Saxons !
However the brightest rays of Celtic Literature came
to Europe as the Story of King Arthur ;
The legendry British ruler of the 4th/5th Century,
Who defeated the Saxon invaders creating history !
These legends kept treasured in the memory of the
Welsh and Breton Celts for past centuries,
Was let loose upon literature in the guise of History,
By Geoffrey of Monmouth in the year 1139 AD !
Geoffrey (1199-1155) was a Welsh cleric who became
famous for his “History of Kings of Briton”, -
A chronicle very popular during those early days !
Later, during the fifteenth century the Arthurian
Legends were revived ,
When Sir Thomas Mallory’s “Morte d’Arthur” got
printed by William Caxton in 1485 !
The societies that predate Arthurian Stories are those
of Celts, the Welsh , the Irish and the Scottish mostly,
Each adding its own Celtic mythology and color to
the Arthurian Tapestry !
The Celtic Language, despite the fierce Roman Latin
onslaught ,
Survived in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall;
And also in the north-western French coast of Brittany;
As Proper and Modified Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish and
Armoric dialects respectively !
Pushed to the outer fringes of the British Isles, the
Celtic language itself failed to dominate or get
standardized ;
Therefore its influence upon Old English was slight.
Yet as geographic areas and place names the Celtic
language still survives !
I now quote only a few samples as examples ;
The names like Cornwall, Carlisle, Avon, Devon, Dover,
and London, - all have Celtic roots ;
Also hidden in the first syllable of place names of Exeter,
Gloucester, Winchester and Salisbury, one can detect these
ancient roots !
Many place names in Europe are derived from ancient
Celtic tribes ,
Which despite centuries of Roman dominance still survives !
Belgium, Boulogne, Paris, Rheims, from Celtic tribes -
‘Belgae’, ‘Bononia’, ‘Parisii’ and ‘Remii’ get their names
respectively ;
And Lyon in France, Leon in Spain, and Leiden in Holland ,
from the Celtic God Lugh remain enshrined in history !
English word ‘flannel’ comes from Welsh ; and ‘mackerel’
from ‘ brill’ of old Cornish ; + = ( Foot Notes)
While ‘ambassador’, ‘vale’, ‘car’ and ‘cream’, are all
derived from Gaelic;
So does the word ‘whiskey’ meaning the ‘water of life’,
from Old Irish merrily survives ! ++ = (Foot Notes)
There are many more which comes to mind ,
But let me stop here to save your time !
CONCLUDING PART ONE :
Let me now conclude my friends having given you a
fair glimpse of my Celtic Story ,
Their influence cannot be undermined in shaping
English language, literature, and its history !
In Part Two I shall narrate the story of Old English
Period ,
When the Angles, Saxons, and the Jutes attack England,
And laid the basic foundation for the English Language .
This is a Copyrighted Composition by Raj Nandy of New
Delhi .
Thanks for reading patiently !
E-Mail : rajnandy21@yahoo.in
FOOT NOTES :-
@ = Proto-Indo-European Family of Languages consists of English, Spanish, Italian, French, Russian, Greek, including classical languages like Latin, Sanskrit & Persian. Linguist Sir William Jones found a connection betweenthe English word ‘father’ with German ’vatar’, Latin ‘pater’, Sasktirt ‘pita’, Old English ‘faeder’; - a family resemblance ! So the word ‘Proto’ was used to cover larger parts of Europe & Asia ! A total of 10 Language Groups have been identified like the Uralic Group, Sino-Tibetan; Altaic Group etc .The dates give are between 5000BC and 3500BC, but Linguists differ & fail to agree on a common date! $ = Roman Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity early 4th Century; We have St Patrick in Ireland in the 5th century; St Colombia in Scotland in the 6th century; & finally St Augustine who in 597 AD brought Christianity to England officially. All this helped the recording & the spread of learning through the Latin medium, but mostly confined to the Clergy & the Church ! William Caxton’s printing press in 1476 at Westminster helped the spread of both Language & literacy ! * = Before the Celts, tall dark Iberians had inhabited Britain creating the Stonehenge,& lived through the Bronze Era ! The CELTS were tall, muscular hardy warriors with bleached hairs & flowing locks, with iron-metal swords, chain mail-armor & horse-drawn chariots, fought as mercenaries in Europe ! During 500BC they were a recognizable group in Bavaria, Switzerland, Austria , Hungary & Bohemia; Celtic artifacts excavated in Hallstatt upper Austria & at LaTene in Switzerland ! During the 6 th Century spread to Northern Italy & much of France! Sacked Rome in the 5th century ,with a foothold in Greece & Asia Minor in the 4th Century! Entered Britain in waves & mingled with the local Briton tribes! Julius Caesar plagued by the Celts whom he called Gauls , chased them across the English Channel into Britain! But it was only under Claudius , Rome established themselves firmly in Britain for 400 years (43 -419AD), driving the Celts to the Northern & Western corners of Britain ! Celtic Language had two main branches; Goidelic or Irish or Gaelic ; and British Dialects Welsh, Cornish & Breton or Armoric in Brittany . Cornish became extinct in the 18th century and also Manx !. Irish proper of Ireland differs from Gaelic of Scotland. Important to remember here is the Celts were a broad Cultural-Group and not a cultural genetic race , and never formed an Empire !
+ = Flannel from Welsh ’gwlanen’= woollen cloth ; from ‘gwlan’= wool , from Celtic ’walana’! ++ = ‘Whiskey’ from Irish Gaelic ‘uisce beatha’& Scottish Gaelic ‘uisge beatha’= a compound from Old Irish ‘uisce’= water, and ‘bethad’= of life ; literally meaning ‘water of life’ !
**ALL COPY RIGHTS ARE RESERVED BY RAJ NANDY OF NEW DELHI **.
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I can't believe I missed reading this wonderful writing of yours before today...Better late than never I'd say. Raj you never fail to inspire me by your dedication to your craft as a writer. Here's hoping you have a most wonderful New Year! Dorothy A Poet Who Loves To Sing
Impressive and revelating write, indeed, Raj. Much pride and effort was obviously placed on both researching & then expressing this essayesque posting & whos Author most certainly quills with a solid pen 'o gold. The above writing is very publish worthy...Good Luck with it, and all your future writing endeavours...~FjR~
Very interesting...absolutely fantastic!!!!
Your studies and knowledge is so impressive, Love how your work.. Cat
Such a fascinating literary ride of a work Raj!So much to learn from this work.And thank you so much for taking us to land of historical background of English literature.Great effort.Love this so much.
Raj it's fascinating the way you have taken us back in time, and composed the history in rhyme. I came in late, simply because I wanted to read it slowly. I too will take a print out for better appreciation of this impressive work. There are many interesting references, which I would love to explore for my knowledge. it simply baffles me how you do it, but I do remember when we met first time how meticulous you are. You have admirable quest for understanding history and magnanimity to share it with all of us by arranging it in rhyme, with footnotes to make it easy for comprehension. You have all the qualities that make a great, patient and benevolent teacher. Thanks WARM REGARDS Mamta
As ever, your verse has Miltonic majesty and Bacon's brevity. You have done a great service to English literature and language. You will be remembered for your research.
have done a great service to English literature and language. As ever, your verse has Milton's majesty and Bacon's brevity. You
I am grateful to 'Google.com' for placing this poem on their permanent referrence web page ! If you type the Title of this verse on Google, you will find this poem listed on top of their web page ! Grateful to Deeptangshu , a senior English Literature student in St. Stephense Delhi , who finds this verse useful for his academics ! Thanks , -Raj
It was not only an enjoyable read, but I will also cite it as a reference in my academic paper... Loved it, Sir.. Bookmarked
I printed this off and read it in bed much more comfy ...great stuff my wife's grandparents were Welsh..I born in Yorkshire with a broad Yorkshire accent and I write LUVLI as I say it, accents are another subject...the Indian writer has a wonderful command of the English language and enjoyed this to the full...regards
Ah, but it appeared so lengthy when I began, yet when I discovered how much history this little tribute covers it seems far too short. Oh, but this revives memories of high school English lit studies, venerable Bede, Caedmon, etc. History is delightfully fascinating and this morsel was no exception. I quite loved drinking in every little tidbit. Thanks!
Absolutely fascinating Raj and knowing what important part the Bards took really impresses me. The Druids still continue to meet in many places in our city today and you have given a wealth of information, that I would have otherwise not known. You bring history to life with authenticity and skill. Thank you for the knowledge and I look forward to the next part too!
i am really baffled glancing through celtic story depicting ontogeny of English language and literature and its historicity of genesis ,your erudite yet scholastic vision certainly enlightens us to know more about it,yet i hope to read more of your submission of research project , thanks for sharing , dear Raj if you find time kindly go through my latest posting ...meandering into blue of heaven to your convenience , regards
A highly impressive, interesting and educative piece. Learnt a lot from reading this verse and looking forward to the next part......Brilliant, monumental task!
Great informative write.
Very interesting Sir. Waiting for more.
English is not my daily language, Dutch and Indonesian are , but I recognize here a very lot, Raj, because I have studied The English Language and Literature at the university in Jakarta, Indonesia. For you the English language is like home. In fact I am here to find fresh air to relax in poetry, but now I know, when your book is presented, I am one of the frst in the row to buy it! Absolutely impressive piece of write! I make a deep bow for you, Raj! I mean every word I write here, Raj and thank you so much for sharing it! Excellent!!
Wonderfully carved! It shows your voracious reading of the English Literature. Good
stupendous. i have copied and pasted in my file. we are indebted to you. shan
Really being proud of you. After all, a long past you have traveled as a learner to dip in the origin of a language and to co-ordinate the history already exists in archive. A markstone of the excavatory work. Short but as Bob Blackwell confessed the contribution of Celtic you have lighted on, really unique. Waiting for the next, waiting for another journey to make myself a bit more educated with the history of a language...but not through any prescribed university course of stamping me as a learner....Thank you much...much for your sharing.
Dear Raj Nandy Sir: This again is a signature piece of yours! Wonderfully penned! The history of English is sure a matter of great interest and relevance to all of us. This work surely needs to be recognized globally. Look forward to the succeeding parts....with regards and respects, Kannan.
Very interesting, first broad history of the Celts I have read, being a Celt I thank you. It was the Welsh who sent St Patrick to Ireland, to convert them from their heathen ways. I cannot wait for part two. Well done Raj!
Impressive as always Raj PS it was Irish monks who brought Christendom to Scandinavia
Loved this part 1 , waiting for part 2
Cambridge university press will publish this book! i bet!
Wow! What an amazing treatise with thorough research... some fascinating details that inform and delight
This is a well-researched and well-composed compendium of the origins of the English language - the language that unites so many of us here on Poetfreak. Had English not been there, where would we all be - I keep wondering. As with your other literary work in the past, this great work also reflects your profound commitment to demystify things and present them in a reader-friendly manner. This will undoubtedly be a boon to school and college students alike. It has certainly enlightened me.
This was a surreal ride into the depths of the language that we are employing; From the migration of the celts to the British Isles to the story of bards and druids, with reference to Asterix, the first recorded English poem, from their move into the iron age in Britain to their skills in Chariot warfare, from their influence in development of Ancient English to the traces of Celtic influence on names like Leon, Lyon and Leiden, I must say, Sir, that I'm proud to have read this brilliant work and I'd like to applaud your dedication in delving deep into history and then employing the acquired knowledge into an excellent work of poetry. Thanks for this informative work of art. Can't wait for the 2nd part.
thanks a lot for this most valuable history of English Language & literature. really appreciate your effort. looking forward to read the 2nd part.
After reading this, I feel confident enough to walk into the oxford university and demand a Ph.d in English an literature! I mean, I'd probably know more than all of 'em there than thier own language! Thanks! (to my friends; hey guys! i'm gettin free education here at poetfreak!
wonderful,raj babu,your research deserves great honour and mention,,,,,,,,,,,,you know about the language,than i do,god bless you............
Raj, this is seriously a lot of research into the origins of the English language - thanks for sharing it with us. I fully agree with Fay..it deserves to be commended and bookmarked...
Hi again Raj - -I omitted to say I am Bookmarking this wonderful work. The research and poetic artistry which has gone into it deserves every recommendation.
Thanks Raj! I am beneath your mount of wisdom and I want to re-read this precious write leisurely.
True dear Fay ! Most of the writers on English Literature skip the Celtic influences ! Only Compton Rickett & the great historian GM Trevelyan gives the Celts their proper due ! There are many references to Cornwall also ! -Raj
Tracing the origins of English language you have Raj mentioned the Celtic language groups include Cornish. I am delighted to see this as I always knew the name Cornwall held deep Celtic roots. Bards are aplenty here as are societies of Druids. Your research is awesome and informative snippets ofinterest you include generously. The Celts certainly feature in early history much more than I realized. Of course the Arthurian legend is very alive here today and despite any Teutonic influence the "Keltoi" still dominate thinking and outlook in rural communities. Part One is intriguing and opens readers to await with impatience the next part of this fascinating account in verse. Wishing you every success with publishing next year and am sure Colleges and Libraries will be delighted to include and use such a fine work.
A very interesting and informative write Raj, I'm impressed... thanks
Truly enlightening and interesting, well composed in verse!